A Tale Of Two Briskets!

KiterTodd · April 2015

Well, I've cooked a lot of things over the last year or so I've owned the egg, but it occurred to me today that I've only made brisket twice. First time was absolutely awesome (even though it took longer than expected and I had to finish it foiled in the oven) and the second time it was very good, if not a little overdone.

SO! I've had this beautiful USDA Select 6 lbs. brisket sitting in the freezer that I got from a nice butcher shop up in PA. Looks epic. I'm cooking this ahead of time for a trip. And I thought to myself... "self, it'd be a shame to go through all this trouble and not even get to eat brisket tomorrow, right?!" Damn straight! So I picket up a 3 lbs. brisket at HT on the way home.

The second one is USDA Select, and while not a bad looking piece of meat, I wish I'd have taken a picture of the two before seasoning. Stark difference in looks. I'm looking forward to comparing the taste. (Private butcher choice vs. Food store chain select)

The Rub - I mixed up yellow mustard with some Worcestershire, brown sugar, a little ground coffee and a shake of Adobe Millings rub. Rubbed that into the briskets and then hit them heavy with Dizzy Dust. Also put some Swamp Venom on the big one (because the folks eating that one are more tolerant of heat than my family is).

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqwqdwwtrdgdkxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/wgqrfgwxrdfqfgqrgxwfstwfdtf/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender11-vi.jpg

Used my AR rack with two briskets for the first time. I can't see how there is room for a water pan with the AR since the stone is on the bottom and the small brisket is in the middle, but I'm okay with that. One less thing I need to do!

Here is the lower brisket (just under 3 lbs.)

And then the big boy up top!
"Who's the big boy?"

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqwqdwsdgwdrfxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/trgsgdrkxwwgddrsrtxrkktrfgfs/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender2-vi.jpg

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqwqdwrwrbtsdxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/fwqtkwgdbxrkdqsbtsqxgbktdrrtq/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender-vi.jpg

Now I'll clean up the mess, dial down the temp to 235 or so, and sleep like an expectant father with the temp probes next to my bed. I usually don't open the grill until the meat hits temp, but I'm guessing one of these guys will be done first. Put them both on at 9:PM, we'll see how it goes....

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqwqkbwbssqdrxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/skgbsqsrqxrkktrfgfsxsqwfqqbdq/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender1-vi.jpg

Small brisket on the left (fresh from store, colder), the one that thawed all day on the right, margarita in the middle.

Wish me luck!

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1179922/smoking-a-brisket-to-freeze-tips

Scottborasjr · April 2015

Good luck man. Have you had success holding your egg at that low a temp before? Mine won't hold below 250° unless the outdoor conditions are absolutely pristine.

Biggreenpharmacist · April 2015

I'm curious if the select grade is the only one available in your area. If All I see is select grade I usually just move on down the counter to a different protein.

KiterTodd · April 2015

Scott, I can hold 225-250 degrees pretty well. Its 350 I have a struggle with! I use the lower temps quite a bit for pork shoulders and ribs.

KiterTodd · April 2015

Big Green, yes, we seem to be limited. Certainly on the big cuts of meat you only have one grade to choose from. Occasionally on steaks you can choose between Select and Choice, but it's rare. I can get Choice at Costco and go to higher end food stores for more options on steaks.

anton · April 2015

Cool man, I hope all goes well, I'll check back for the $$$ shots.

Tinyfish · April 2015

Now thats a catchy title.

Biggreenpharmacist · April 2015

I'd definitely wrap that small one at the end. I'm afraid it may dry out on you.

Scottborasjr · April 2015

But if you wrap it you will finish quicker, might have to stay up....

Ladeback69 · April 2015

Good luck, I've never cooked any that small before.

KiterTodd · April 2015

Ha! I realized after posting this that to most of you, even a 6 lbs. brisket is small. I should have gone to Costco to look for a full one, but this one has been sitting in my freezer begging to be cooked.

Well, things are smelling awesome this morning. They've been on for 13 hours now and the temps have started to inch up so I must be past the stall.

In the first couple hours the temps of both briskets equalized and crawled up to 157 pretty fast. That was 11:PM or so and I went to bed as the temps walked back down to 144 degrees and stayed there allll night long. I don't think the meat budged out of the 140s until 6:AM.

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqsrbrbgfsfbsxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/stkgrdksfxrrsswdfdtxwgtbwqwss/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender2-vi.jpg

As I type this the small is at 167, the large at 160, and the grill at 225 (I opened up the lower vent another screen square).

That new Maverick on the right is annoying. That thing would beep every couple hours at night and wake me up, and I'd look at it and all the temps were fine. It's like it would miss a ping from the transmitter or something and by the time my wife kicked me it was fine.

KiterTodd · April 2015

178/174/232 and it smells great!

Getting past the stall is like having her water break...you know it's going to happen any minute now, but you just have to wait.

KiterTodd · April 2015

189/183/239, 16.5 hours in....that's low and SLOW!

Only reason I'm getting antsy now, is it's keeping me from fishing!

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2015

I cooked a 12 lb prime packer in 10hrs last night at 275. There is no reason to cook brisket at 220 unless you really like long cooks.

KiterTodd · April 2015

Thanks The Cen-Tex Smoker. You know, there's a lot of conflicting advice out there.

At this point I want to have it for dinner, so I'll bump the temp up and maybe wrap it. Decisions, decisions....

KiterTodd · April 2015

Alright, after 18 hours

I opened the grill to reveal two perfect looking meteorites! But, they're still only at 190 on the small and 180 on the big one so I foiled them and bumped up the heat.

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqrrdtfgdgksfxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/krrffsdssxfkwtfkqqxrdfqfgqrg/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender-vi.jpg

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqrrdtbqsbrksxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/wsffrbtgdxwdttffqkwxfkwtfkqq/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender1-vi.jpg

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqrrddqwfdwfwxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/rtdsggwskxwrbgqqbtqxwfqgwskgb/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender-vi.jpg

I was in and out quick and forgot to probe it with the thermapen.

As mentioned, I'm going to freeze the larger one and eat that small one for dinner, me hopes!

KiterTodd · April 2015

Well, within an hour og foiling them, both were off the grill and done. A little foil, a little more heat, BAM...done! Good stuff too.

They were both soft and jiggly when I took then off. I didn't cut into the big one (that was for later) but I did cut a bite off the tip and it tasted great.

The small one was for us to eat for dinner tonight. I wasn't sure how a 2.8lbs brisket would hold moisture, but it did pretty well. It was so soft when I took it off at 203 degrees...it was a gelatonous little meteorite! I should have cut it then. I let it rest a little bit before putting it in foil but I had things to do so within ten minutes it was FTC. We ate it two hours later, while some parts were a little dry, the flavor was perfect and it was very tender.

Interestingly, while good just by itself, something about putting it on a roll really brings out the smoke taste when you bite into it. Must be the contrast of bold meat against the bland bread.

Next time I'll try one of those full packers form Coscto. I'm also looking forward to cutting into the 6lbs. larger brisket later to see how the flavor compares.

2.8lbs brisket - are forks allowed if they're holding the meat down?

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqrbbrwdtdqbtxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/fwqtkwgdbxrkttfwdrwxgfkbsrqfk/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender7-vi.jpg

I didn't have any slaw but some sliced peperoncinos gave that perfect vinegary bite to the sandwich.

Image: http://media.fotki.com/1_p,rrrqrbbrkrdbggbxrgkfqwtgrqbd,vi/gsfrrwrwrxrkgkfkkgsxrtqgrtqk/1/666681/13124706/FullSizeRender5-vi.jpg

Ladeback69 · April 2015

KiterTodd said:

Well, within an hour og foiling them, both were off the grill and done. A little foil, a little more heat, BAM...done! Good stuff too.

They were both soft and jiggly when I took then off. I didn't cut into the big one (that was for later) but I did cut a bite off the tip and it tasted great.

The small one was for us to eat for dinner tonight. I wasn't sure how a 2.8lbs brisket would hold moisture, but it did pretty well. It was so soft when I took it off at 203 degrees...it was a gelatonous little meteorite! I should have cut it then. I let it rest a little bit before putting it in foil but I had things to do so within ten minutes it was FTC. We ate it two hours later, while some parts were a little dry, the flavor was perfect and it was very tender.

Interestingly, while good just by itself, something about putting it on a roll really brings out the smoke taste when you bite into it. Must be the contrast of bold meat against the bland bread.

Next time I'll try one of those full packers form Coscto. I'm also looking forward to cutting into the 6lbs. larger brisket later to see how the flavor compares.

2.8lbs brisket - are forks allowed if they're holding the meat down?

I didn't have any slaw but some sliced peperoncinos gave that perfect vinegary bite to the sandwich.

Looks pretty tasty. Nice job.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · April 2015

Nice! Looks awesome. I can never get the smaller ones to behave. Great work.

A Tale Of Two Briskets!

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